The most popular auctions of 2016

We're constantly amazed at the endless creativity and entrepreneurship of our members - they do some amazing things and suprise us constantly.

This year was no different and we had a lot of fun looking back at our most popular Marketplace auctions of 2016.

Number one this year was a 9x9cm bum tattoo listed by a member with a big debt. The auction racked up a massive 153,000+ views and 1700 watch listers with coverage in The Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail.

The seller, Bailey, wanted to pay off some debts and, inspired by one of the most popular auctions on Trade Me of all time, decided to list the tattoo. It's worked well - apparently she's off to Miami in January to get the rainbow tattoo.

Some auctions just have a certain something; they capture the imaginations of our members (and often people around the world) because they’re weird, controversial, sometimes a little often borderline in taste terms, and because the seller does a great job with their description and brings a healthy dose of humour to the Q&A.

These sellers don’t take themselves too seriously and they’re good at getting a bit of publicity. It certainly doesn’t hurt if they get some media attention too of course

In a nod to some of the more niche auctions we see each year we've also compiled our 'honourable mentions'. These are the auctions that didn’t quite have the broad appeal of the top ten but struck a chord with us and our members all the same.

They include a signed picture of the world’s most talked about man, Donald Trump, a very unusual nude carpet portrait of former Prime Minister John Key, a fertility-enhancing desk chair and former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s rail pass.